Trowel



Patented Nov. 16, 1897.

TROWEL.

-J. HILTON.

aim yen-Za a. fiyiw wig/m,

(No Model.)

. upon the middle of such bar.

UNITED STATES "PATENT OF ICE.

JAMES HILTON OF NEW ARK, NEW JERSEY.

- TROWEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 593,770, dated November 16', 1897. Application filed Ap 7, 1897. Serial No. 631,129. No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, JAMES HILTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Detachable Handles for .Trowels, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thesame.

The obj eet of this invention is primarily to furnish an improved means of attaching a handle to the trowel-blade without springing the blade. This is effected by securing a stifiening-bar permanently upon the upper side of the blade and providing such bar intermediate to its ends with a part having tapering dovetail edges, such part beingmade of suitablelength to receive the foot of the handle-bracket, while the opposite ends of the bar are made with parallel edges and of the same width, respectively, as the top and bottom of the dovetail portion. The foot of the handle-bracket is secured to the stiffening-bar detachably by means of a dovetail adapted to wedge upon the tapering dovetail I have found that the dovetail upon the foot of the handlebracket may be made either tapering or parfoot'with this construction is secured to the blade when in use without the need of employing set-screws or other fastenings liable to distort the blade.

The handle may be removed from the trowel- 'blade by knocking the foot of the bracket loose from the dovetail upon the stiffeningbar, and the handle and blade may then be laid together in much less space than would be occupied by the entire trowel.

The invention also includes a special con- I struction for the handle-bracket by which it is stamped from sheet metal in two elbowpieces of flat channel form which are united to form a vertical post with a foot extended from the front and back of the same; By

'outer side.

, The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the. trowel with a wooden handle indicated by dotted lines. Fig.2 is an end elevation of the trowel. Fig.3 is an end view, and Fig. 4a side view in section, of the handle-bracket. Fig. 5 shows the under side of the handle-bracket. Fig. 6 is a plan of the trowel-blade and stifiening-bar. Fig. 7 shows the under side of the stiffening-bar upon a larger scale; and Figs. 8 and 9 are cross-sections of the stiffening-bar upon line 8 8 and line 9 9, respectively, in Fig. 7.

A designates the trowel-blade, with the stiffening-bar riveted upon the middle of the The stifiening-bar is formed with wide forward end B, a narrow rear end B, and an intermediate dovetail portion 1). The forward end B has parallel top edges, which in practice are extended along the edges of thedovetails b, and the rear portion B has also parallel edges and is in practice made of the same width'as the lower edges of the dovetails. The bar is made of sheet-steel of the same grade as the blade A and is temperedin like mannerand afterward secured to the bladeby rivets C. The stiffening-bar is thus rendered highly elastic and is not liable to take a set or permanent bend.

The handle-bracket, as shown particularly in Figs. 3 to 5, inclusive, is formed of two similar parts or halves, each half consisting of an elbow-piece of fiat channel form resembling in cross-section a fiat channel-iron, having a fiat body D with ribs E. The arms of the elbow-pieces are shown of unequal length, the longer arms being secured to-- gether by a rivet F with the ribs in contact, as shown in Fig. 5, thus forming a hollow post, (designated I in Figs. 1 and 2,) which possesses great lightness and strength...

The shank G for the wooden handle H is riveted through the top of the post, as shown in Fig. 4:, thus stiffening and strenthening the post at the upper end. The shorter arms of the elbow-pieces project in the same plane in opposite directions from the bottom of the post, thus forming a fiat bracket-foot, (designated J in Figs. 1 and 2,) provided with ribs upon its under side.

To fit the handle-bracket for application to the stiffening-bar, the ribs of the foot are inclined inwardly to form a dovetail adapted to fit the dovetail edges 1) of the stiffeningbar. The dovetail upon the foot may be made by bending the ribs upon the edges of the lower bracket-arms into contact with a steel former having the same shape as the dovetail portion of the stiffening-bar, or the ribs, after stamping at right angles like those upon the upper arms of the bracket, may be ground or milled out by a revolving tool, thus forming a parallel dovetail groove upon the under side of the foot. If such a parallel groove upon the foot of the bracket were applied to the parallel dovetail edges upon the stifiening-bar,it could not be retained thereon without some fastening device, which would be liable to spring the bar and the trowelblade, and to avoid the use of such fastening device I form the dovetail edges 1) of the bar with a slight taper, as indicated in Figs. 7, 8, and 9, so that the bracket when crowded upon the stiffening bar may be retained thereon by friction.

I have found by experience that a parallel dovetail groove in the foot of the bracket may be jammed firmly upon the tapering dovetail edges of the stiffening-bar and will be retained thereon in a suitable manner while the trowel is in use, while the construction permits the bracket-foot to be knocked or pushed longitudinally from such stiffening-bar whenever it is desired to detach the handle from the blade.

By making the rear portion of the stiffening-bar without any dovetail and narrow enough to enter readily the groove in the foot of the bracket it facilitates the application of the foot to the dovetail portion of thelbar by guiding the same thereon. The forward portion of the stiifening-bar is made without dovetail edges and wide enough to resist the movement of the bracket-foot beyond the forward ends of the dovetail edges, thus preventing the handle-bracket from being crowded gradually forward and thus wearing or loosening it upon the bar. I find in practice that the tempered stiffening-bar B B serves,when combined with the bracket-foot in the manner described, to hold the trowel-blade perfectly flat, as no set-screws or clamping devices are present to warp or spring the blade. I also find that the parts of the handle-bracket can be made very cheaply of sheet-steel by a stamping operation, which produces them of very light weight and smooth surface and which saves a great deal of labor in grinding and polishing, while the ribbed form of the elbow-pieces furnishes a very stiif construction.

By making the handle-bracket of sheet metal the ribs which form the dovetail groove upon the foot can be cheaply fitted to the required shape without the filing and dressing which is required to make a close joint, as is necessary with the malleable-iron brackets largely used for similar constructions.

By making the shank G for the wooden handle separate from the handle-bracket and riveting it thereon I find that a handle-bracket can be finished up and polished much more readily than where the shank is formed integral therewith, as with the ordinary 1nalleable-iron brackets. The whole construction is very cheap, while it furnishes great stiffness to the trowel and holds the trowelblade in an improved manner.

A great advantage exists in making the handle detachable from the trowel-blade, as a much greater number of the trowels can be packed in a case of given size for transportation, and my invention furnishes a most effective and useful means of making the handle detachable, while it supports the blade in use without distorting the form of the same.

It will be observed that the stiffening-bar is secured, upon the trowel-blade A midway of its length and breadth, but that the dovetail portion of the stiffening-bar is much nearer to the wide end B than to the narrow end B, as the handle-bracket is necessarily attached to the forward end of the handle. Furthermore, by the method of construction the foot of the handle-bracket projects forward and backward from the post I, as shown in Fig. 1, the forward projection thus necessitating a forward extension of the dovetail. I have therefore made special claim to a stiffening-bar having the dovetail near the forward end, with the other end contracted in the rear of the dovetail to facilicate the application of the bracket-foot.

Having thus set forth the nature of my in vention, what I claim herein is- 1. In a plastering-trowel, the combination with the trowel-blade of a handle-bracket formed in two halves, each half consisting of an elbow-piece of fiat channel form, the corresponding arms in the two elbow-pieces being secured together with the edge ribs in contact to form a vertical post and to receive the shank of the handle, and the remaining arms projecting in the same plane to form a flat foot for attachment to the trowel-blade, substantially as herein set forth.

2. In a plastering-trowel, the combination with the trowel-blade, having a dovetail stiffening-bar as set forth, of a handle-bracket formed in two halves, each half consisting of an elbow-piece of fiat channel form, the corresponding arms in the two elbow-pieces being secured together with the edge ribs in contact to form a vertical post and to receive the shank of the handle, and the remaining arms projecting in the same plane and having the ribs inclined to form a flat foot with dovetail groove upon the under side for attachment to the dovetail bar, substantially as hereinset forth.

3. In a plastering-trowel the combination, with the trowel-blade of a stiffening-bar having, intermediate of its ends, a portion provided with dovetail edges, and having ahandle-bracket formed in two halves, each half consistingv of a sheet-metal elbow-piece of flat channel form, the corresponding arms of the two elbowpieces being secured together with the edge ribs in contact to form a vertical post and to receive the shank of the handle, and the remaining arms forming a flat foot with the ribs upon the same inclined to fit the dovetail portion upon the said stiffeningbar, substantially as herein set forth.

4. In a plastering-trowel, the combination, with the trowel-blade, of a stifiening-bar having a forward portion and intermediate portion of the same width, with dovetail edges upon such intermediate portion, and a narrower rear portion adapted to guide a dovetail foot-piece upon the intermediate portion, and a handle having foot with dovetail groove to fit the bar,substantially as herein set forth.

5. In aplastering-trowel, the combination,

with the trowel-blade, of a stiffening-bar having a forward portion and intermediate portion of the same width, with tapering dovetail edges upon such intermediate portion, a parallel rear portion of less width than the intermediate portion, and a handle having a bracket with dovetail groove in the foot adapted to fit the dovetail edges of such stifi ening-bar, and to be guided upon the same by the rear portion of such bar, as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a plastering-trowel, the combination with a trowel-blade of a stiffening-bar attached to the blade midway of its length and breadth, and formed with the short forward portion B, the intermediate portion having tapering dovetail 12 upon its edges, and the narrower rear portion B of greater length than the portion B, and a handle with foot having dovetail groove, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES HILTON. Witnesses:

THOMAS S. CRANE, FRANCIS G. FOSTER. 

